JoJo Siwa is addressing the criticism over the controversial Nickelodeon card game "JoJo's Juice," in which players ask one another truth-or-dare, two-truths-and-a-lie, and never-have-I-ever-style questions.
The 17-year-old Nickelodeon star and social media phenomenon, who has a young fanbase, took to Instagram and TikTok on Monday, Jan. 4 to shed some light on how the children's game ended up with "inappropriate" content for the targeted (according to the game's packaging) six and up audience, which, up until Monday, was available for purchase online at Walmart and on Amazon, among other retailers, for around $20.
Siwa currently has an overall talent deal and consumer product partnership with Nickelodeon.
"Over the weekend, it has been brought to my attention by my fans and followers on TikTok that my name and my image have been used to promote this board game that has some really inappropriate content," the "Boomerang" singer began. "Now when companies make these games, they don't run every aspect by me, so I had no idea of the types of questions that were on these playing cards."
The internet sensation continued, "Now when I first saw this I was really, really, really upset about how gross these questions were and so I brought it to Nickelodeon's attention immediately. And since then they have been working to get this game to stop being made and also pulled from all shelves wherever it's being sold."
JoJo went on to explain that she would "never, ever, ever would have approved or agreed" to a game that reportedly included questions about being arrested and nudity.
Questions included on the multi-player game including "Have you ever been arrested?," "Who in this room would you most like to date?," "Have you ever gone outside without underwear (a bathing suit doesn't count)?," "Have you ever stolen from a store?", and "Have you ever taken money from someone's purse or wallet without asking?," as well as cards that asked players if they had "Kissed a boy" and "Learned the art of twerking."
Negative reviews for "JoJo's Juice" date back to 2018.
The Dance Moms alum ended her video on a positive note by adding, “I hope you all know that I would have never ever ever approved or agreed to be associated with this game if I would have seen these cards before they started selling it,” adding “I love you all so much. Thank you for bringing this to my attention so that way I could put a stop to it and I could get it fixed immediately. I love you all so much and I hope you have an awesome 2021.”
Amid backlash, Nickelodeon and "JoJo's Juice" manufacturer Spin Master released a statement addressing the game. "We respect and value the relationship JoJo Siwa has with her fans and take the concerns raised regarding the game 'JoJo's Juice' very seriously," the statement read. "This game is no longer being manufactured and we have requested that retailers pull any remaining product from their shelves."
In a post shared on Friday (Jan. 1) by Facebook user Heather Watson, a real estate agent in Lynchburg, Virginia, included photos of some of the cards, which featured the aforementioned questions plus others such as, "Have you ever stolen from a store?" and, "Who in this room would you most like to date?" Watson also shared a video about the game to her own TikTok account.
The mother of four told TODAY she was expecting the game to include things like, "Have you ever picked your nose? Silly kid questions," but the subject matter was actually much more serious. Watson also shared her concern around that game was not only that the questions were not age-appropriate but also that they seemingly came from Siwa, whom many young children look up to. She added that when she saw the line about bathing suits, she thought that made the game "even more inappropriate, and I just couldn't believe it. ... I went and told my husband and ... (he) didn't even believe me," Watson recalled. "I showed it to him, and we felt like we had to physically pick our jaws up off the floor." Watson, who said she has experience with child psychology from her 11 years as a teacher, also worried that the game could have a negative emotional impact on kids. "I'm well aware of how triggering some of those questions could be for some kids who have suffered trauma in their life," she said. "If a game was asking kids that question, a game that they think JoJo made, they're probably thinking, 'I haven't been arrested, but should I have been since JoJo's asking me that?'" Watson explained.
Watson posted a duet of herself and her children reacting to JoJo's video on TikTok Monday night after the singer posted her video, writing atop the clip, "JoJo responded" alongside a string of celebratory emojis.
"Thank you sooo much for taking care of this! My daughter [Tinslee] loves you!!❤️you made her day," Watson captioned the footage, addressing JoJo.
"That was kind of what I had hoped would happen but didn't actually think would happen," Watson told TODAY. "I was actually really impressed. ... My daughter was really happy because she thinks it's like a personal message to her."
And while she's aware that social media can be used for "horrible" things, Watson thinks it made all the difference in this case.
"We all took a stand together," she said. "I posted it, but if other people didn't share it, other people didn't get mad about it and comment and tag JoJo and ... Nickelodeon, it would have never gotten to that point. It's just really good to see social media be used to make a change."
Siwa's swift response to the backlash left commenters impressed.
"The only person I know that is mature enough to handle any situation thrown at her in a respectful manner. Truly amazing," one user wrote.
"This is how you handle a scandal in a mature way. Some influencers should be taking notes," another said.
"We stan an unproblematic queen," a third commented.
However, some users on social media are claiming that the said game is apparently a knock off of an actual board game.
Sources: E! News, Business Insider, People, In The Know, Just Jared Jr., tubefilter.
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